45
by TwilightFairy928
Summary: Waking up, Eve meets the 44th replica of Vexen, only to discover that she is a replica herself. Maleficient has taken over The World That Never Was, and dusks are hunting the two replicas down, sent by a mysterious girl. Sequel to "Roxie".
1. Replica

45

Chapter I

-Replica-

"Wake up, now! That's it, that's it, open your eyes… _no, no, __**open**__ them! Lazy,_ aren't you? You are just _fine,_ now _get up!"_

A groan. Light flooding in all around. Color turning into, strange, hazy shapes. It disappeared in a moment as she snapped her eyes shut again due to the painful throbbing in her head.

"Now, now, look at me," the voice continued, "I know the light seems a little bright at first. But you _cannot_ simply lay here, do you understand me? Come here."

Two arms slid underneath her and lifted her up. She gasped, jerking her eyes open and grasped the coat of the man cradling her. Instantly his face became clear: it was a thin face, with two large green eyes staring back at her. His long, blond hair dangled just above her.

"Ah, here we are!" he sighed, "You look healthy- that's good, very good- and… can you speak?" He paused for a moment, then sighed again, "I suppose not… I can teach you, though. Have _no_ fear! After all, you're new, aren't you? Of _course_ you would need to learn these things." She glanced around the room, then back at him, confused.

"Oh, haven't introduced myself, have I? I do apologize!" he exclaimed, "I am Vexen. Well, actually, I am the _44th__ replica_ of the great researcher, Vexen. And so, you may call me _Replixen._ And I suppose you don't even know your _own_ name, now do you?" She frowned, narrowing her eyes.

"I didn't think so," he said with a smile, _"You,_ girl, are the _45__th__ replica_ of Vexen. Your name is _Eve._ That is because Vexen's real name is _Even._ Your name is very similar to that. You are also his first- and as it turns out, his _only- female_ replica. There are 43 replicas besides you and I. A few live in this castle, including ourselves. But that does _not_ mean that you can go wandering off by yourself, do you understand? There is a witch that lives here, so it is _dangerous_ to go off on you own!" Eve gripped his coat tighter, her eyes wide in fear.

"It is alright, child, I suppose you will understand what I'm talking about soon enough… But the witch, _Maleficient,_ _is _to be avoided, and-" Replixen stopped, "…nevermind. I need to teach you how to walk, talk, etc., etc. So, here."

He carefully put her down on her feet. Eve began to wobble back and forth, and let out a shriek as she fell forward. Replixen easily caught her with one arm, and laughed.

"It isn't easy, is it? he said, "You will learn. Let's try again, shall we?"

He stood her upright again and slowly let go.

"Balance… keep your balance, that's right…" he said softly, "Yes, that's it, that's it!" She held her arms out as she trembled.

"Try to put you arms down, Eve," Replixen directed. She did, quickly losing her balance and falling onto his arm again.

"Ha, you've almost got it! You just need to-"

Determined to get it right, Eve pushed away, forcing herself up. But it proved to be too hard- and she toppled over backward with a _thud_ before he could catch her. Her throat suddenly felt thick; and it stung. She gasped as her eyes filled with water, which overflowed. Letting out a long moan, she tried to wipe the hot, salty water off with her arm.

"You must be more _careful_ and _patient,"_ Replixen said gently, as he picked her up. She buried her face into his shoulder, soaking it with tears.

"You will be alright, you only fell. It hurt your pride more than anything else. There, now, stop crying," he said, walking to a nearby bed and placing her on it.

With a smile, he said, "How about I teach you to speak, now?"

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Snaking across the castle at breakneck speed, a dusk, followed by several others, returned with the information that she wanted. They weaved around the girl like cats, whispering things to her that only she- and a few others- could understand.

"There are others?" she questioned, "Are they with Maleficient?" More hissing. "Then who are they?" A pause, then the dusks all began at once.

"One at a time, one at a time! I can't understand all of you at once! You! Tell me what you saw." Gliding by her head, it whispered what it had seen.

"Vexen…? No, Vexen is gone. Are you sure? And… there's a… a girl with him? What does she look-" A dusk interrupted with a loud hiss.

"She is another clone? Number _45?_ Then the Vexen that you saw must be another replica. Is Maleficient currently in the Dark City? Yes? Good. We'll go check these two out. Give them a _'warm_ welcome', _got it memorized?"_ With a smile, she pulled her hood down lower over her eyes, and opened a dark portal, stepping through. The dusks hurried away, and the room was left in silence.

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"Can you say 'father'? Well… no, I suppose that's too complicated, isn't it? You need to start with something small. Then what about 'dada'?"

Eve cocked her head to one side, pointing to him. "Eh…?"

Oh, no,no,no! Replixen exclaimed, _"I_ am not your father! _Vexen_ is! Well, I do mean to say, that _yes,_ I _do_ look exactly like him… But I… _I_ am not! _I_ am more like your… _brother,_ I suppose. Can you say 'brother'? No, probably not…"

He thought hard for a moment, then with a snap of his fingers, he exclaimed, "I have it! Can you say-" He was interrupted by a shriek from Eve.

"What is the matter?" he asked, following her frightened gaze. Behind him danced several dusks. He gasped, instinctively snatching up the girl, holding her head so that she leaned against his shoulder.

"What-" he began, but as the dusks advanced toward them, Replixen bolted out of the room, Eve screaming in his ear.

Skidding to halt, he quickly turned a corner and waited for the dusks to pass. "Hush, hush…" he whispered to the girl, sobbing into his coat, "Maleficient cannot control the nobodies… So I suppose some other threat has arrived! We must get to the Dark City… Although, I suppose you don't even know what that means right now, do you?" Down to a whimper now, Eve lifted her head, revealing two, swollen, grass-green eyes.

He smiled as encouragingly as he could. "Now, now, we'll be alright. But we absolutely _must_ be as _silent_ as possible," he said softly, raising a finger to his lips, "Then perhaps the dusks will not find us. And so… close your eyes and cover your ears, like this."

He pressed her head against his shoulder once again, covering one ear with his hand. She closed her eyes, and upon opening them, she could see that the entire environment had changed! Eve gasped in amazement. They were standing in an apartment overlooking a city at night. The Dark City.

"Ha!" Replixen shouted as he sat Eve down on a nearby chair, "See? That was quite simple, wasn't it? From here to there in a flash; the dark corridors are extremely convenient! But you see," he knelt down in front of her, "I had to keep you from seeing or hearing it, because we needed to be silent. I did not want to frighten you. Do you understand?" receiving a blank stare from her, he sighed, "Of _course_ not…" He stood and turned away, beginning to walk to the window.

"Re…"

He paused.

"Repli…"

The man turned to stare at her. "What…?"

Eve stared back at him intently; concentrating.

"Replixen."

-_Finally!_ I've been meaning to finish typing out this chapter for a while now! Anyway, I hope you guys liked it! By the way, you might be thinking that Eve's only a toddler or so in this, right? Well, actually, she's about 13 or 14, physically (I haven't decided yet). She just doesn't really know how to function, yet. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up soon!- TwilightFairy928


	2. Kidnapped

Chapter II

-Kidnapped-

A few days had passed since Replixen had escaped the castle, bringing Eve to safety. The girl had quite improved since that time. Eve now spoke fairly fluently; at least so much as someone with the mentality of a preschooler could. However, this meant she was progressing dramatically faster than even Replixen had perceived. She would soon reach the mind state of her physical age, and even surpass that!

But now, she sat quietly, wide eyed, in a nearby chair, pressing hard into the cushions with fear. Replixen pressed his ear to the apartment's door, listening for the small sound that had only just interrupted the rare silence. It was an unnervingly familiar sound, a hissing, that had come from the hall beyond.

"Rep-"

"_Hush, girl!"_ Replixen whispered harshly back, pressing a finger to his lips. Her mouth snapped shut, and Eve sunk lower into the chair.

"But I don't hear-" she began again.

"_Silence!" _

He couldn't help but wince at the muffled whimper. He side-glanced the young replica, forcing his expression to remain stern. She appeared to be on the verge of tears, hands clasped over her mouth.

"Eve, you must-" he attempted to explain, but was interrupted by a piercing shriek. Following those terrified green eyes, he looked down.

"Augh!" he exclaimed, crashing to the floor. Something had just swept around his legs, causing him to trip. His head jerked up in time to see his attacker.

"A dusk!" he wheezed, rushing to his feet. Eve screamed again as the nobody twisted around the chair. She curled tightly into a ball, waving an arm around wildly.

"Away!" Replixen commanded, summoning his shield in a flurry of ice. He lunged at the dusk, and Eve let out another wail.

Following a crash, few silent moments passed, and she squinted one eye open to see her brother standing over her.

"Are you alright?" he immediately asked. She nodded.

"But… where is…?" she said slowly.

"_Kkkkssssshhhhh!"_

Suddenly, something slid down in front her. It was the dusk! She wanted to scream, but no sound would come out. Her eyes simply rolled back into her head, and she fainted away.

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Eve opened her eyes to see two bright, green, almond shaped eyes staring at her from under a hood.

"Who are you…?" she asked, "and where is Replixen…?" The girl who was stood above her simply nodded toward a nearby doorway. Eve gasped to see Replixen, barely conscience, held up by either arm, by two large nobodies that he had taught her about. Berserkers.

Jerking her head back toward the mysterious girl, she shouted, "You let my brother go!"

A barely visible smile formed on the girl's face. "Your _'brother',_ huh…? Well, _that's_ interesting…" Eve shuddered at the strange girl's tone.

"So… the dusks told me that you're… a replica…?" she questioned. When Eve made no reply, she continued, "so… I guess you're this _'Number 45',_ right? The dusks just won't stop talking about you! I found out that Vexen made replicas of himself, but I had no idea just how many they meant!"

"Your… your voice…" Replixen suddenly rasped, trying to lift his head to see her better, "I… I recognize it…" The black hood cocked to one side, and girl replied, sounding amused, _"Really?_ I've never met _you_ before."

"Wait… _I know!_ I know who you are!" he exclaimed, "You are _his_ daughter! Axel… You are Roxie, are you not?"

She casually flipped back her hood, revealing a head full of vivid red hair. "So what if I am?" she said with a smirk.

"I have some of Vexen's memories," Replixen explained, "But you are rather… _different_ than you once were."

"Being stuck here, having to defend myself, having to hide from _Maleficient,"_ her cocky expressed wavered, but only for a moment, "Well… I guess I changed a little bit. And, what, your still _exactly_ the same since that witch took over?"

"Actually, I believe I _have," _Replixen replied indignantly, "and I _also_ have been here for quite some time. Well… you _have _been here for more than a few weeks, haven't you…?"

"_Of course I have!"_ she shouted, her face turning a deep shade of pink, "Ever since Sora…" she trailed of, turning away from them.

"You think Axel is dead, don't you?" the replica guessed, unable to suppress a sly grin. As she turned back toward them, her green eyes suddenly seemed more vivid as they cut over to him.

"Yeah," Roxie said slowly, "He died about a year ago. Why…?"

"Oh, only because…" Replixen said, _"Nobodies do not die."_

"What…?"

"I have a theory," he continued, "that nobodies do not die, because they are not whole, thus not… _human…_ enough to die. _However…_ it is _common_ knowledge that nobodies only disappear, _instead_ of dying…"

"So… what happens to them…?" Roxie said.

"They must find their hearts," he said, "and when they do, they are whole once more. Although, this is not the preferred method. It is _preferred_ to actually find one's heart _before_ fading away."

"Then… you mean…" the girl's eyes narrowed and she spoke slowly, taking the information in, "My dad's still alive? Where would he be now?"

"I suppose he would be somewhere that would be important to him," Replixen guessed.

"I can think of a few places," Roxie said, shifting her gaze between Replixen and Eve, "And so _you_ twoare gonna help me find him."

-Yes! I _finally_ have this chapter up! Sorry for the wait; I'm currently working on another fanfic as well.- TwilightFairy928


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